The climate-driven career: How to get started
The transition to sustainability in business and industry is well underway and won’t easily be stopped.
Employers are creating millions of new sustainability jobs across many industries and sectors, and they know they need to lead on climate, justice and equity issues to attract and retain top talent.
Meanwhile, today’s professionals want to do more with their careers than just make money. They want to make the world a better place.
They’re backing up their passion with skills and experience, seeking employers and roles that allow them to use their talents to live out their values and make an impact, and they will keep pushing for progress.
How purpose-driven careers pay off
According to Yesh Pavlik Slenk, senior director of the global Climate Corps® fellowship program and host of the Degrees podcast:
“In a purpose-driven career you’ll have tough days, like in any other career, but when you’re devoting your talents to making the world a better place — for people and the planet — you’ll never feel like you’re wasting your time or your talent. That’s the biggest reward.”
Yesh’s advice on getting started in an environmental career is to engage in some soul-searching, starting with these tips from her interview with Climate Corps alum and planet-saving careers expert Trish Kenlon:
- Saving the planet will require jobs that span industries, sectors and geographies. That’s why it’s important to figure out which issues you care most about. Is there a particular issue that gets you really fired up?
- If you’ve been in the working world for a few years, what did you like or dislike about past jobs? See how this can inform what to look for next.
- Assess your core values. This can help you decide if you want to tackle local or global challenges; work in the private, nonprofit or government sector; and work in a big, small, established or entrepreneurial environment.
- An honest assessment of your skills and experience is also crucial, to help determine if you’d benefit from standalone courses or certificate programs — which take less time and cost less than grad school.
- If you’re in the market for a purpose-driven job, it’s important to be open-minded: Any career can provide opportunities to make the kind of impact you want. Are there ways to put a climate lens on the job you currently have?
How to land a job saving the planet
Using your professional power for good
As a professional, you have the potential and the leverage to raise the private sector’s ambition on climate change. EDF’s innovative Climate Corps program empowers graduate students to do just that, helping companies and organizations reduce their environmental footprint.
To date, Climate Corps has facilitated more than 1,900 fellowships across the private and public sectors, to help over 700 host organizations meet their climate and energy goals across our programs in the U.S., India and China.
We pride ourselves on being both pragmatic and solutions-driven. So we’re working with business leaders in technology, transportation, food and everywhere in between, to accelerate climate action, drive investment in climate solutions and make sustainability the new normal.
Today, getting everyone on board is critical to building an environmentally sustainable economy, including workers, managers, directors, VPs and C-suite executives. That’s why we offer resources to help you raise the private sector’s ambition on climate change.
Check out our Climate Corps program
Meet Yesh
As the senior director of the global Climate Corps program, Yesh oversees the strategy, operations and staff of the program, as well as its network of more than 3,400 professionals.
Climate Corps’ mission is to build and mobilize a diverse coalition of climate leaders that will advance climate solutions worldwide.
Follow Yesh on X
Degrees podcast
Degrees is a podcast community that features guests with stories that can help listeners plot their own sustainability-driven career roadmaps.